Learning Tips

3 Ways Parents and Teachers Can Cultivate a Great Classroom Environment

Parents and teachers alike can work together to cultivate a great environment for children of all backgrounds and learning styles. See how!

It is not solely a teacher's responsibility to create a great classroom environment. Parents and teachers alike need to work together to cultivate this environment for children of all backgrounds and learning styles.

Check out our three suggestions that can help cultivate a great classroom environment!

1. Make sure parents, teachers, and students are aligned on learning development goals.

Goal setting in the classroom is important for children for many reasons. Setting clearly defined goals can help children improve their academic performance, increase their motivation to achieve, increase their pride and satisfaction in their work, and improve their self-confidence (Teaching Community).

As a teacher, it is beneficial to help each child set several learning goals that are Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound (SMART). Then, teachers, parents, and students should all be clear on these goals so that they can work together both at school and at home to help children achieve their goals. By having support for their learning goals at home and in the classroom, children can feel more confident and accomplished at school. This is part of creating a better classroom environment!

2. Find a child’s learning style.

According to Learning Styles Online, there are seven different learning styles. Of these seven learning styles, Concordia University says that three learning styles are most common in early childhood. These learning styles are:

Visual: Students who learn with a visual style of learning will remember information best when presented with pictures or images.

Auditory: Auditory learners understand best when they hear information.

Kinesthetic: Students with kinesthetic learning styles learn materials best with physical and hands-on activities.

When helping children learn new material, it’s important to remember that children learn in various ways. If parents and teachers can communicate with one another on how a child learns best, then a better learning environment can be created. For information on how to identify a child’s learning style, click here.

3. Remember the importance of learning through play.

Children need time to play both at home and at school. Research by Fromberg and Gullo (1992) has shown that play offers a variety of benefits for children, such as enhancing:

Language development

Social competence

Creativity

Imagination

Thinking skills

Children also develop fine and gross motor skills with their play. Truly, the list of benefits for playing can go on and on; just read this article if you don’t believe us!

Although defining what ‘play’ is can be difficult, play can be described as an absorbing activity that children participate in with abandon and enthusiasm (Scales, et al., 1991). Play is also described as positively valued by the player, self-motivated, freely chosen, and engaging (Garvey, 1997).

So how can teachers and parents work together to make sure there is enough time for play? Simply put: teachers have the responsibility of providing appropriate indoor and outdoor play environments at school, and parents should provide opportunities for play at home. One thing that might limit this is the amount of work and homework given at school. Teachers and parents should have an open conversation about how much homework is appropriate for young children so that together they can include play as part of the learning process.

A Way to Play

If you’re looking for a way to include play either at home or at school, check out Blocks Rock! Blocks Rock! has been scientifically proven to develop skills that are critical for STEM education.